Course Overview

Course Overview

Welcome to Learning to Lead course!

The leadership journey is ongoing. Charla Huber, a former Victoria BC journalist, wrote:

“Leadership is something people constantly need to work on to maintain. It’s the same as with fitness and nutrition — you can work really hard to get fit and healthy, but unless that work is continued, prioritized and monitored with self-reflection, it’s gone. You can have all the life experience, work experience and education to be a leader, and you can be an effective and respected leader, but it …won’t last if it’s not maintained.”

(Huber, 2023)

During the time you spend with these modules, you will read articles, view videos, reflect on new information, and build upon your knowledge of being in an early learning setting. The activities will help you to discover new insights and practice leadership skills. 

One of the tools that you will be using during this journey is Reflective Journaling. Reflective Journaling is one way of recording your thoughts and tracking your learning. It promotes critical thinking and growth. By the end of the course, you will have a collection of notes to look back upon that may be an asset to your daily practice of working with children. Save your notes in a binder or folder that you can easily access and add to over the course.

There are six separate sections within this Moodle site, including: 

1. Welcome, and introduction Describes the background and purpose of the course and further defines and establishes the resource’s parameters.
2. Module 1: What is Leadership in Early Childhood Education Reflect on personal strengths, cultural identity, and leadership styles while exploring allyship with Indigenous communities and strategies for building inclusive and responsive early learning environments.
3. Module 2: Introduction to Creating Spaces Deepen understanding of Indigenous histories, explore inclusivity through an anti-racism lens, and research resources and community connections to support leadership in ECE. 
4. Module 3: Holistic Practices in Leadership Explores the interconnected roles of the heart, head, and hands in leadership, develops strategies for building strong teams and ethical practices, and reflects on communication, mentorship, and perspective-taking to support inclusive and effective ECE leadership. 
5. Course Wrap Up Offers a course summary highlighting key learnings and a curated list of references related to the course content.
6. Assessment Includes the final assignment, which allows you to demonstrate what you’ve learned in the course.   

It is critical to access the sections and topics in sequence as the materials and activities are designed to be scaffolded to support your success and optimize your learning experience.  

To learn more about OERs at RRU, visit this RRU library resource which provides guidelines for finding, using, and creating Open Educational Resources https://libguides.royalroads.ca/OER

Reflective journaling helps you analyze your professional and personal growth. By recording your thoughts, you can step back and ponder the meaning of an activity. 

“Learning is the creation of meaning from past or current events that serves as a guide for future behavior.” 

(Daudelin, 1996)

Watch the short YouTube video Reflective Learning Journal for an introduction to reflective journaling. 

To assist you in organizing your reflective journal, you may consider including the following in each entry:

1. A title that describes the topic
2. A description in concrete statements
3. Analyze your thoughts and feelings on the topic, how the ideas align or do not with your values
4. If you follow up with actions, how did it work out?
5. How might your reflections influence or change further actions?

References

Daudelin, M. W. (1996). Learning from experience through reflection. Organizational Dynamics, 24(3), 36–48.  https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0090261696900042

MSLETB Sales Apprenticeship (2022, Mar). Reflective Learning Journal. [YouTube]. https://youtu.be/ljCKyBqWSYI?si=k14YUkznUxCgz7pl

Navigating this Resource

This openly licensed resource is hosted within the Royal Roads University (RRU) open educational resources (OER) Moodle site. There are various instances of Moodle at RRU, and you can learn more about the versions used and how to navigate Moodle by visiting this RRU Moodle OERsite. 

Learning outcomes (LOs) serve as a valuable resource to guide your learning journey and ensure you can maximize your learning experience. The primary purpose of this section is to communicate the intended learning outcomes of the Learning to Lead Course. 

By outlining these outcomes, you will have a roadmap of the knowledge, skills, and competencies you will acquire throughout the course. These outcomes are carefully crafted to align with the overall goals and objectives of the course, ensuring that you are equipped with the necessary tools to succeed.

The learning outcomes for this course align with the content, activities, and assessments you will encounter, enabling you to track your growth and identify improvement opportunities. Within each Topic section, an overview is provided, including the respective LOs that are relevant to that topic. You are encouraged to review the learning outcomes thoroughly and to refer to them throughout your learning journey to support your success in completing all provided activities and assessments.  

Course Learning Outcomes

After completing all activities and assessments (total of 32 hours) in this open course, participants will:

• Understand personal strengths and skills that support leadership in an early childhood setting.
• Recognize the roles and responsibilities in leading a team of Early Childhood Educators and professional staff that will match the needs of children and their families.
• Model inclusive and democratic practices that motivate others and build team capacity.
• Apply knowledge of Indigenous history and values to create safe spaces for Indigenous children and their families

Activities and Assessments

The activities and assessments within this course are designed to be engaged independently and asynchronously to spark curiosity and support your growth and development as you work towards achieving the learning outcomes.

There are no formal grades awarded for completing the activities and assessments within this course; instead, embrace this experience as a unique approach to learning that is intended to support you in a more enriching journey of self-reflection and personal growth. You are encouraged to assess your progress and engage in reflective practice as you move through the activities and assessments to foster self-discovery and continual development as an ECE leader or manager.

Specific activities and assessments will be listed within the overview of each course module.